Spirits in the night: Tip a sip of some scary good concoctions

Oct. 28, 2010

Lee Anderson, owner of Radio Bean bar and coffeehouse on North Winooski Ave., created the dilly bean martini at a private party in the Northeast Kingdom. The first dilly-bean drinks were served in late summer out of an old Studebaker. / SALLY POLLAK, Free Press

A bloody Mary with barbecue ribs is a mini-meal, a (mostly) liquid power brunch, at Our House in Winooski / SALLY POLLACK, Free Press

A seasonal cocktail concoction at Muddy Waters will make you feel the fall, and will remind you that the fall you are feeling is special to Vermont. / SALLY POLLACK, Free Press

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Dilly bean martini, a pickled treat

There are some strange brews, some funky spirits, out there — hearty elixirs for fall drinking. You decide whether it’s trick or treat — we’re leaning toward the latter.

You can have your drink and eat it, too, if you’re buying a certain mixed drink at Radio Bean in Burlington or Our House in Winooski.

At Radio Bean, get your daily dose of veggies with a martini — the dilly bean martini.

Owner Lee Anderson is a fan of dirty martinis, and he found that Radio Bean was occasionally running out of olive juice before the olive bin was empty. The bar, which is attached to restaurant Duino Duende, gets dilly beans. Anderson was inspired to substitute beans for olives.

Anderson created the drink, and first served it in late summer at a private party in the Northeast Kingdom, where the dilly bean martini was prepared out of a rusted old Studebaker. With origins like that, how can you go wrong?

The result is an intoxicating and fun drink that plays perfectly with the songs that were playing at Radio Bean on a warm and sunny afternoon this week — the smooth melancholy of the Fugees cover of “Killing Me Softly,” and Jay-Z and Alicia Keys singing the hit “Empire State of Mind.”

It felt like New York — celebratory and alive — crunching on organic, pickled green beans in a sunshiny bar, and sipping a gin martini.

The beans come from the Crow Collective, an organic farm that provides food for the restaurant, Anderson said.

“They are such delicious dilly beans,” Anderson said. “I thought, what happens if we substitute dilly brine for olive juice.”

What happens is people start throwing around new words, like dill-lightful; and dill-icious, Anderson said.

Bloody marys and ribs, a match made in heaven

When we heard about a Bloody Mary with barbecue ribs at Our House in Winooski, we pictured a rib placed in the drink, like a celery stalk.

Instead, the strong and satisfying drink was served with two tender, saucy ribs on the plate — creating with the thick, spiked tomato juice a mini meal, a power brunch.

The ribs, slathered in sauce, fell off the bone and happily into our mouths. The drink was a traditional Bloody Mary, made extra right by its size: 16 ounces. By the time we licked our fingers and slurped our ice cubes, a Bloody Mary and barbecue ribs seemed a natural pairing.

A seasonal treat

A seasonal cocktail concoction at Muddy Waters will make you feel the fall, and will remind you that the fall you are feeling is special to Vermont.

The drink, called Wildflower, is full of Vermont-y ingredients, including maple, cider and Vermont Gold, a Vermont-made, unflavored vodka that is made with maple sap.

This sweet little drink sneaks up on you, like a slinky black cat teasing you on Halloween night.